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Jerry Orpe has not been outdoors in four months and remains confined to an orthopaedic unit at a Calgary hospital, but he doesn’t need knee surgery or a hip replacement like his fellow patients — he has Alzheimer’s. Orpe, a 77-year-old retired business owner and a one-time prospect for the Chicago Blackhawks, has been waiting for a long-term care bed, and there is no end in sight.

Health care, and the disaster looming within it, is already emerging as the key issue in the four byelections triggered by Premier Jim Prentice. One reason is the indomitable Dr. Paul Parks, a Medicine Hat emergency doctor who speaks for the Section of Emergency Medicine, a division of the Alberta Medical Association.

With emergency room physicians warning of a potential “catastrophic collapse” in Alberta’s acute-care system, Premier Jim Prentice said the government is looking at potential action. Prentice said Monday there will be an announcement from Health Minister Stephen Mandel “shortly” on the creation of new long-term care beds to help deal with alternative level of care patients — so-called bed blockers who need continuing care, but are instead forced into hospital beds because of a lack of facilities.

In 2010, the Alberta Medical Association Section of Emergency Medicine (SEM) felt obliged to publicly raise the alarm that our acute care system was near “catastrophic collapse.” Unfortunately, despite years of trying to get the Alberta government to focus on the critical system-wide capacity solutions, our health-care system is once again on the edge of a dangerous cliff.

The province has scaled back its standards for emergency room wait times to deflect the fact hospitals continue to fall short of previous goals, opposition parties charge. In a revamped report card released last week, Alberta’s health authority pledged to hold the medical system to account in 16 key areas, among them hand-hygiene, continuing-care placement and hospital satisfaction.

Retired nurse Marlene Driscoll spent the holiday season celebrating a different kind of gift: a brand new knee, delivered by her Calgary surgeon at a private hospital in the Caribbean. The December surgery came with a hefty price tag of about $40,000 for the flights, hospital care and accommodations in the Turks and Caicos.

Health Minister Fred Horne says the medical and regulatory agencies singled out in a scathing report on a Calgary cancer patient’s ill-fated journey through the system must report back early next year with their plans for change. “There is absolutely no excuse for physicians not taking direct responsibility to see that patients get the care they require,” Horne said Friday.

The father of an Alberta man who died weeks after being diagnosed with testicular cancer says his son died prematurely after being failed multiple times by health authorities. Greg Price, 31, died unexpectedly on May 19, 2012, three days after surgery to remove a cancerous testicle.

Alberta doctors who dump patients who can’t or won’t shell out for uninsured services could face discipline from the province’s medical watchdog. Dr. Trevor Theman, registrar for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, said new rules passed Friday will require doctors who join concierge clinics to keep seeing existing patients for their normal medical needs, regardless of whether they agree to pay for extras.

When aspiring premier Alison Redford promised something called family care clinics during the Progressive Conservative leadership race two years ago, it looked like a stunt to outflank Gary Mar, a former health minister. She seemed to be playing risky politics with health care again during the 2012 election campaign, with her promise to build 120 of those clinics, also known as FCCs.

Alberta’s medical system is awash in labour uncertainty as the Redford government faces high-profile clashes with doctors, pharmacists and nurses that some observers say mark a new low in the province’s relationship with its health-care professionals. Hundreds of Alberta pharmacists took their battle with the government’s changes to generic drug pricing to the street Thursday, staging protests in Calgary and Edmonton over the sudden move they say has shocked the profession.

On the eve of a showdown with the province over a $275-million pay cut, the head of the Alberta Medical Association urged the province’s doctors to gear up for a long labour battle. In a letter to members Thursday, Dr. Michael Giuffre said the AMA is planning a new round of advertising, a social media campaign and a provincial tour over the next several weeks, and is prepared to “push the button” on legal action against the government if necessary.

The contract dispute between doctors and the province intensified on the weekend, with the Alberta Medical Association calling for Premier Alison Redford to wade into negotiations and two local physicians saying cuts could prompt them to exit the province’s public health-care system. AMA president Dr. Michael Giuffre said Saturday a “fresh start” is needed as the government tries to secure a new compensation deal for the province’s nearly 8,000 physicians. He suggested Redford, who helped teachers reach a four-year deal on Friday, take the reins from Health Minister Fred Horne.

A group of 350 Alberta emergency department physicians is demanding a meeting with the minister of health to know why the province isn’t meeting its medical system targets. The Tory government owes an explanation to Albertans for why some patients are still waiting hours longer than promised in emergency departments, and sitting months too long on certain surgery lists, said Dr. Paul Parks, a spokesman for the Alberta Medical Association section of emergency medicine.

Premier Alison Redford said Friday she hopes a new deal for Alberta’s 40,000 teachers — one that includes three years with no wage hike — will be precedent-setting for other public sector contracts. But the province’s doctors and some union leaders insist the tentative teachers’ deal doesn’t represent a path to future labour peace.

With another annual ER wait target set to slip by unmet this month, Alberta health superboard boss Dr. Chris Eagle is questioning whether the benchmark is the best way to account for a flood of new patients into provincial emergency wards.

CALGARY — The head of the Alberta Medical Association warns there are “huge challenges ahead” in resolving an increasingly acrimonious contract dispute with the Redford government. In a memo addressed to 10,000 provincial physicians, AMA president Michael Giuffre noted that an austere provincial budget means Alberta doctors won’t see any new money, and could face potential reductions to fees and retention benefits.

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